Week 13 SEC Letter Grades: Tennessee Through Vanderbilt

Written By Tucker Harlin

Credit: University of Tennessee Athletics

TENNESSEE: B+

I put the Vols at a high B instead of a low A for similar reasons as my rationale for South Carolina. They won 56-0, but they had to get a brutal quarter out of their systems.

The first quarter was a brutal one for the offense. Nico Iamaleava was mere inches away from an interception on his first play of the game, missing receivers in about every possible way in the opening frame.

Nico settled down in the second quarter, dishing out touchdowns passes to Bru McCoy, Squirrel White, and Ethan Davis. Dylan Sampson broke the program record for touchdowns in a single season at any offensive position as the Vols ran for 241 yards and four touchdowns.

The defense also needed time to settle in as UTEP was pulling out everything from its bag of tricks, but it forced three turnovers and stuffed the Miners behind the chains 15 times.

On to Vanderbilt.

TEXAS A&M: C

Texas A&M fought hard to get itself back in a close battle on the plains, but it fell short with an unfortunate drop in the fourth overtime.

This was the secondary’s worst performance of the season by a long shot. The Tigers had multiple chunk pass plays against Aggie defensive backs, two of which went for over 60 yards.

Texas A&M’s early deficit forced it to pass more than it wanted to, but Marcel Reed and Noah Thomas connected five times for 124 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The offensive line struggled against the Auburn front, surrendering four sacks and seven tackles for loss.

The loss stings, but the Aggies still have a path to the college football playoff should they win against Texas.

TEXAS: B

The Longhorns didn’t really pull away from Kentucky until the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. The touchdown was scored by Quintrevion Wisner, who contributed to most of the Horns’ 251 rush yards.

Texas turnovers were a factor in the Wildcats keeping this one close. Jaydon Blue lost a fumble some time in the third quarter, and Quinn Ewers lost another on an attempted pass that went for six the other way.

Outside of one touchdown drive, the Horns weren’t challenged defensively.

Brock Vandagriff leaving the game with an injury hindered an already struggling Kentucky pass attack. Texas finished with two picks while bottling up the run game for just 21 yards.

The Longhorns are one win away from their first ever SEC championship game appearance.

VANDERBILT: C

The Commodores fought valiantly in Death Valley, but whatever momentum they gathered from this first offensive play couldn’t be sustained.

The offense did its best to control the clock, but a pair of stall outs across the 50-yard line were costly for the Commodores. They cut the deficit to seven with a Diego Pavia rush touchdown, but the Dores didn’t get the ball back in the final five minutes.

Vandy’s defense is reliant on opposing offenses to make bad mistakes with turnovers and penalties, but LSU didn’t have those in mind. Garrett Nussmeier got what he wanted in the air while Josh Williams burst free on a pair of rush touchdowns.

Tucker Harlin
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